This past week, the diocese of Orange, California officially dedicated positivity-gospeler, Robert Schuller’s former Crystal Cathedral as a Catholic cathedral (above photo). The grandiose complex continues as a Gospel-less, whited sepulchre. Joel Osteen cites Schuller as a major inspiration, while Schuller took his cue from president Trump’s positivity-gospel “pastor,” Norman Vincent Peale.
It’s encouraging to see the Gospel making inroads into such a spiritually dead place as France.
Roman Catholics are obligated to attend mass each and every Sunday under threat of soul-damning mortal sin, although only 20% of American Catholics comply. If there are dangerous circumstances, as there were recently with Hurricane Barry, which prevent Catholics from attending mass safely, the local bishop will grant a dispensation, exempting them from their obligation. This type of exacting religious legalism leads to innumerable questions regarding various contingencies, which even Rome’s bevy of canon lawyers would be unable to answer.
- With love and listening, “Landings” guides returning Catholics back to pews
- New program aims to create evangelizing churches
The American Catholic church has a serious problem with declining membership and we’re starting to see a number of programs sprouting up aimed at convincing lapsed members to return. What would be their motivation? The pope has said even atheists can merit Heaven if they are “good.” The Gospel of salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone has no part in any of this.
Some Catholics are offended by the term, “Roman Catholic,” and prefer to be called simply “Catholic.” “Roman Catholic” is actually an oxymoron because “Roman” refers to a specific location, while “Catholic” means “universal” (Greek καθολικός, katholikos). Roman Catholics concede that evangelical Protestants have “some” of the truth, but that the Catholic church alone transmits the fullness of divine revelation. In actuality, the RCC is so steeped in its man-made traditions, that it transmits very little Biblical truth.
EWTN, the conservative Catholic media conglomerate founded by Mother Angelica aka Rita Rizzo, is subtly leading the opposition against progressive pope Francis.
Pastor Leonardo De Cherico provides an insightful look at the rise of Mariolatry.
Funny stuff. I’ll keep quiet about Trump, but I attended a Baptist church thirty-five-years ago that majored on the “cardinal” sins: drinking, smoking, dancing, card playing, and listening to rock music. Going to the movie theater, also a major no-no at many Baptist fellowships at that time, was OK at our church because the pastor was a martial arts enthusiast who loved rock ’em, sock ’em action movies.
A fellow who grew up in the church we left is serving as a missionary to France
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Interesting, Wally. One might easily think that it would be impossible to evangelize in France, but the Lord can do the impossible.
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It’s going to be a tough mission for sure.
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Yeah, I’m guessing the secularization over there is 2X what it is up here in the secularized Northeast U.S. anti-Bible Belt.
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Ironic that Europe first sent missionaries here and now we send them there.
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Tom, thanks for the great post. We had a priest here who told us that we had to come to mass every week because that was our insurance policy for getting into heaven….Later the same priest was under police investigation, and disappeared.
Through the Pope’s representatives in Canada and the Philippines, I have been trying to track him for five years….whereabouts still unknown….🤔
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Thanks, Sally. Mandatory mass attendance is such a blatant legalistic rabbit hole. Catholics debate over what portions of the mass a person MUST be present in order to have properly fulfilled their Sunday obligation.
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A lady from our church interrupted the Mass one time to announce that the candles were not lit, and we must have candles or the Mass would not be valid…..
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I wrote a post maybe a year ago about a similar experience. My Catholic grammar school class was sitting inside the church for some type of event and our nun teacher, sister Mary Virgina, noticed that the red “sanctuary lamp” candle had gone out. Well, you would have thought one of the children had gone into cardiac arrest by her reaction.
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Haha haha….I can identify ! 😄
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👍🏻
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Slim Tom sounds nice! Especially at 182! Will read this later today, gotta drop people to the airport…
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TY for these weekly post.:)
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Thanks, Bonnie! Hope you’re having a blessed weekend!
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And you also.
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Thank you!
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Great round-up brother! What verse do RC’s use to justify the view that missing mass will send you to hell?
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Thanks, sister! I appreciate your rhetorical question as we both know there’s nothing in the Bible mandating Sunday mass attendance under threat of eternal damnation. But this is an excellent example of how the RCC elevates its sacred traditions above and beyond Scripture. The RCC points to commandment #3 (our #4) of the ten commandments, to keep the sabbath day holy, and of course the magisterium claims the right to define what Catholics must do as part of keeping the day holy.
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Re: Why I Don’t Call Myself A ‘Roman’ Catholic
The author can feel as offended as she wants. What offends me even more is their claim on the name “catholic” when their dogmas are vehemently anti-catholic and peculiar to Rome. In my discourses with these folks, I will always refer to them as “Romanists” no matter how offended they feel, because that is the most accurate description of their teachings.
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1.) ” Crystal Cathedral”
Response: That place went from bad to worst in terms of who is owning it.
2.) Glad to hear there’s more Evangelicals in France…
3.) ” The pope has said even atheists can merit Heaven if they are “good.””
This man undermines the Gospel…
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Thanks for the good comments!
1- RE: Crystal cathedral
Right. No sign of the Gospel before and especially now.
2 – France: I was really surprised to see the Gospel is making inroads there.
3 – Francis: It was inevitable that the RCC would eventually grant atheists the possibility of meriting heaven. Once they said a devout Muslim or Buddhist can also merit Heaven by “following the light they were given” as the RCC did at Vatican II, by logical extension, they had to eventually grant that possibility to the “good” atheist as well.
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So much going on with your round up this week. The news went from my state (Crystal Catheral) to France and the Vatican
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There’s always so much crazy news going on with the RCC every week that I’m rarely hurting very stories. Usually, it’s a question of what stories to leave out. It’s much harder to find stories about “evangelicalism” because the vast majority of articles out there are tied to evangelicals’ political support of Trump.
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Sad to see the association of Evangelicalism with Trump politics
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Yes, such a bad misrepresentation of the Gospel message.
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Agreed
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4.) “Roman Catholic” is actually an oxymoron because “Roman” refers to a specific location, while “Catholic” means “universal” ”
Response: Wow you got a point there. Haven’t thought about that recently though as a young Christian when I found out what Catholic means it was crazy to me…
5.) “EWTN, the conservative Catholic media conglomerate founded by Mother Angelica aka Rita Rizzo, is subtly leading the opposition against progressive pope Francis.”
REsponse: The irony…
6.) Babylon Bee scored it!
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4 – Occasionally, I’ll see a post from a Catholic blogger objecting to the “Roman Catholic” label. They know it’s paradoxical.
5 – The main publication of the liberal faction of the RCC, the National Catholic Reporter, has just come out with a multi-part examination of EWTN’s part in the anti-Francis efforts. A “must read” for me if I can ever get around to it.
6 – Yes, I got a big chuckle out of the Babylon Bee satire.
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I meet some who argued the name Catholic means they are therefore the universal one church…
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I have to give them credit. They’ve certainly done an “excellent” job in leading the ecumenical and inter-religious push with them in the driver’s seat.
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Yeah don’t know how they do I think there’s a dark spiritual force
Behind it
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Their changeover at Vatican II from militancy to rapport was a stroke of evil genius.
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It was
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Re: #4
Ask these people to name one bishop at the Council of Nicaea who held to Papal infallibility, the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption as dogmas.
That’s not the ancient catholic faith, that’s Romanism.
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Right. In the Vatican II document, Dei Verbum, the RCC declares doctrines can and may develop over time.
“The tradition which comes from the apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down. This happens through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts, through a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience, and through the preaching of those who have received through episcopal succession the sure gift of truth. For, as the centuries succeed one another, the Church constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her” (Dei Verbum 8).
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Re: Right. In the Vatican II document, Dei Verbum, the RCC declares doctrines can and may develop over time.
Then by their own historical standards, they fail Vincent’s rule for the test of catholicity. Therefore, they are not catholic, they are Romanists.
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But they would reply that they are not restricted by Vincent’s rule.
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Re: But they would reply that they are not restricted by Vincent’s rule.
If that’s the case, why should I believe their “developments” and not Muhammad’s or Joseph Smith? In fact why should I believe the Roman claims when the Eastern Orthodox claim that Rome is schismatic and hold to heretical teachings?
ALL of them claim to be the one true religion.
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Yup, I agree with your logic. Conservative Catholics are upset with Francis for “bending” allegedly infallible doctrines, but their church has always been creating and altering teachings.
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Re:but their church has always been creating and altering teachings.
The problem with them arguing for “developments” is that Pius IX, when he defined the immaculate conception, said that it was believed by all and had always existed. In my discourse with Romanists, I have brought this up when they invoke Newman’s doctrine of development.
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Thanks for the good comments, sb.
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